Tag Archives: Aurora spy jet

A mystery explosion in Catterick in the early hours of Saturday morning has been followed by further reports of loud bangs across the country – leading to wild theories about meteors and spy planes.

The massive bang reported at around 3am on Saturday, heard in the Marne Barracks area of Catterick Village, resulted in the A1 being closed for more than 12 hours while extensive searches were carried out.

Police found no obvious signs of an explosion and say they may never know what caused the noise, although investigations are still ongoing.

Later on Saturday night, at around 10pm, people across Britain reported hearing loud bangs which experts have claimed could have been caused by a jet engine, fuelling some theories that they could have come from a top secret fighter plane.

The bangs could be heard from Glasgow to West Sussex and Devon and social media was awash with ideas about what could have created the noise which shook windows, woke children and alarmed animals.

A Sheffield-based engineering research associate among a team of scientists working the technology behind types of pulse detonation engine said test engines could often be heard for miles.

Dr Bhupendra Khandelwal said:

“When we run a test engine it’s a real industrial noise and you can hear it for miles. We have people coming to us asking to make less noise or keep it to the daytime.”

The engine works by using the force from a series of explosions, caused by mixing a fuel mist and air intake, to thrust itself forward. It is thought to be able to power planes at five times the speed of sound.

The technology builds upon ‘pulsejet‘ principles which first emerged in the early 1900s and were used in German V-1 flying bombs.

Test flights using the most recent forms of the technology have lasted only a few seconds, but it is still listed by conspiracy theorists as a possible way of powering the so-called Aurora spy jet.

The theorists have cited Aurora – a name which appeared in a Pentagon budget report in the 1980s – as an ongoing spy plane project for several years.

After the Catterick explosion officers carried out extensive searches in the area where the explosion was reported but found no obvious signs of an explosion.

During the course of the day, eight members of the public came forward to report hearing a what they describe as an explosion in the area.

Superintendent Dave Hannan of North Yorkshire Police said:

“We are satisfied that the call to the police was made with good intent.

“The investigation is still ongoing but there is no information or evidence to say this reported explosion was a criminal or deliberate act.”